


Recover

by K3llyK4t



Series: Outfoxed [2]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien gets a clue, F/M, Fluff, Heroic Adrien Agreste, Lila salt, Minor Class Salt, Supportive Gabriel Agreste, Supportive Sabine Cheng, Supportive Tom Dupain, lila gets exposed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-08
Updated: 2019-12-08
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:29:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21724537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/K3llyK4t/pseuds/K3llyK4t
Summary: Adrien hadn't been there to help Marinette when Lila came after her the second time, this is his side of the coin on how he stepped up to help her get rid of the liar once and for all.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Series: Outfoxed [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1565773
Comments: 38
Kudos: 1286





	Recover

Adrien had been on a three-day trip to Marseille when Lila struck, a fact that tore at him and led to more guilt festering within him, the liar had been prepared and was waiting for Marinette's only ally to be gone. "I should have done something sooner." His knuckles gripped the strap of his carry-on as he read the barrage of posts in the Class Chat, unsure of whether he wanted to even reply to these at the moment. A notification about a new meme on Catbug News was lost to a flood of Ladyblog notifications, his guilt spiking to an all-time high as Alya very savagely slammed Tom and Sabine's.

From his current place, getting ready to head back to Paris, he couldn't do much; he couldn't transform and go throwing himself across France to find out the whole truth, especially since Marinette wasn't answering her phone.

_Why would she? I abandoned her?_

Plagg's claws pressed into his shoulder and Adrien scrambled to follow his bodyguard as they went to board the train, Leonard didn't seem too concerned with the distraction and instead cleared his throat once they sat down. "You good, kid?" Adrien was reminded of the very few times he'd ever heard the Gorilla speak, always deep and rumbly, usually it was one or two words.

"Not really." He wanted to curl up and hide, or explode and scream how unfair this was to the rooftops, Adrien's brain and body at ends with how to process and unpack his emotions without looking like a mental case.

Leonard's hand settled on Adrien's head and the man shifted so he could squeeze Adrien's shoulder instead, gently of course but firm enough to help ground the boy. "Talk me through it, kid, you look close to fainting." Adrien's mouth opened and closed a moment, it was the most he'd ever heard his bodyguard say, it was the first time any of the adults in his life had wanted to hear his thoughts on anything.

Adrien hesitated but Leonard was patient, not taking back his request and instead just watching. "You remember Lila," This made Leonard scowl and nod, letting out a deep sigh that Adrien could practically feel in his bones. "and you know my friend Marinette, or you've seen her at least. She wears her hair in cute pigtails and-" Adrien flushed and stopped himself, but Leonard's scowl had faded to a calm expression.

Plagg, who had already shifted his hiding place, vibrated in Adrien's pocket out of contained snickers. "Marinette knows Lila is making stories up to impress the others and get out of doing work, she tried to call her out on it before, but since they were all just stupid tall tales I had thought Lila would have been figured out by now. Spoiler alert, she wasn't, and now she's framed Marinette and gotten her expelled a second time." Leonard's brow furrowed and the man retracted his hand to cross his arms, Adrien realized that he hadn't exactly told his bodyguard about that event either.

"The first time Lila planted the answer sheet for our geography test in Marinette's backpack, Madam Bustier called Marinette out in front of everyone, but Marinette always has high grades and especially in geography she does better than I do. But Marinette accused Lila when the latter said something, which got them both sent to the Principal's office. Lila then accused Marinette of pushing her down the stairs and saying that it was bullying, that Marinette stole her grandmother's pendant, the Principal expelled her on the spot." Adrien squeezed his hands until his knuckles hurt, he'd let her down even though he had tried, his ultimatum with Lila wasn't going to protect her.

Hearing the rumbling noise from his bodyguard, seeing Leonard watching him fairly intently, Adrien canted his head. "Sounds to me like no proper investigation was done, aside from investigating Lila's two claims of theft. No CCTV footage, no asking the staff about their observations between the two, or even getting in touch with the parent's privately. Not sure since I don't know law that well, kid, but seems like that teacher and Principal of yours are blatantly ignoring protocol." Adrien stared at the man, what else could he do, the fact that there should have been more done -that hadn't been done- was both a relief and another added stress point.

Leonard shifted to slouch, elbows on his knees with his palms pressed together, it put the tall man a little closer to eye-level with Adrien. "Kid, I'm going to guess you said you'd be there for Marinette since you both knew Lila was faking everything, that you didn't want to rock the boat because of how often akuma pop up." Adrien's throat felt tight and his eyes burned as he nodded, unable to even come up with a reply, it had felt like the right thing to do at the time.

"I'm not going to lecture you, kid, it won't do much more than make you feel worse. You made a choice in that moment, what you have to do is learn from that choice, your friend trusted you enough to let her own feelings on the matter go. What you have to do now is follow through with your choice to be there for her, regardless of the consequences, or her trust was misplaced. You're a good kid, Adrien, you wear your heart on your sleeve and that's okay too; if someone hurts you, or your friends, you are allowed to be angry and upset. You are allowed to want to help no matter what your Father says, you can't live in his shadow forever and he won't be there to make all your choices for you, there are some things you need to do for yourself."

Leonard took a long sip of water and Adrien felt the burning in his eyes grow before he squeezed them shut, trying not to burst into tears while on a very public train, but his body won out and Adrien managed to at least quiet himself so he didn't make a scene. Once he was cried out the teen spent the rest of the ride scrolling through the class chat to figure out what happened, since Mari still wasn't answering her phone or texts, even as an admittedly petty idea formed in his head and wouldn't go away.

* * *

By the time they had reached Paris there had been a return fire from Nadja Chamak and TVi, as well as the numerous loyal patrons of Tom and Sabine's, Adrien had the day off from school since he had gotten back so late and took advantage of that. After asking to be left alone until dinner, which wasn't something he knew would be a problem with his Father and Nathalie involved in a video conference with a fabric supplier, the teen found himself heading right for the TVi studio.

Nadja Chamak practically flew out of her skin when he entered the recording room, Aurore was prepping for her first major story and he was glad to have caught them. "Chat Noir? Is there an akuma?" The reporter was probably expecting it, along with all of Paris, but they'd been lucky so far.

"No, Madam Chamak. I wanted to make a public statement against the Ladyblog, on a factual source of news, since Ladybug hasn't done so yet. We don't tolerate tabloids and slander against reputable businesses and good people." The bite in his voice was present and Nadja seemed to relax, gesturing to have him seated across from Aurore at an interview setting instead of a news table.

He listened to the student reporter as she started, cameras trained on her calm expression as she blatantly called the Ladyblog out for slander and the staff at Françios Dupont for power abuse and an inability to follow board mandated protocol. It was only after he managed to reign in his temper, insult Alya and the school, that he found himself on a rooftop panicking because Ladybug was going to murder him. Even admitting he'd met Marinette was a very stupid, risky, and dangerous thing with Hawkmoth on the loose.

He'd just put a target on her back, worse than anything Lila could have done to her, and he very nearly broke his foot kicking a wall. He had to talk with Ladybug first before he risked visiting Marinette, let the hype die down so he wasn't caught showing up on her balcony in the suit, it sucked but Hawkmoth couldn't know how close they were.

By the time Ladybug had shown up the hero was done trying to beat himself up, physically at least, and his ears jolted upright as his tail went still the moment she hugged him. It was a long hug, like longer than usual, but the moment it registered just what she'd done the heroine threw herself away from him and looked something between cross and flustered. "For Marinette." She had said, which really went to show how important the designer was to Ladybug if she was willing to hug him that long as a show of thanks.

"I purr-omise to stop by and see her, when it's safe since I already was a jackass and put a target on her back today. I was just so- Ladybug I was so angry; she doesn't deserve this." He mussed up his hair and paced, slouched shoulders combined with a runway walk made it look like a big cat slinking around.

He heard the soft sniffle. "No, she doesn't, but it's okay that you defended her. I think now more than ever she needs to be reminded who she has in her corner, yea?" There was something in her expression that was soft and fond, but lurking behind it was the glint that she usually got when thinking how to take down an akuma. "Let's get patrol out of the way, Chat, I would like to back up your statement earlier and talk with Aurore tonight." His heart swelled that she wasn't going to make him do this alone, but why would she? Ladybug had never failed to support him, even if she'd never really reciprocated his feelings she was still his very best friend.

All he could do was purr noisily and nod as he grabbed his baton. "Thanks, Bug." He earned a smile before they split up and his chest felt lighter knowing that Ladybug was going to give her public support too. He knew he couldn't go see Marinette for a few days, in or out of the mask, but maybe by then she would be able to accept his apology for not doing something sooner.

* * *

[Marinette, I am so sorry! I got caught up on the class chat on the last day of the shoots when we were leaving, I didn't think this would happen and I'll do whatever I have to in order to make things right. I know you probably hate me and I understand why, I'm sorry that I didn't have your back and wanted to handle her the way Father taught me to handle tabloids. I didn't think it would ever get this bad and I really messed up, Mari.]

He'd woken up to a text from Marinette, his first one since the incident, and while it didn't take all the guilt from him there was an acknowledgement to his apology.

[I don't blame you for this, Adrien, though I hope you see why I wanted to get the others at least skeptical of her before this. I'll admit that before her first attempt at getting me expelled it wasn't a bad idea to just let her expose herself, but once she targeted me then I should have said something instead of being afraid you'd be disappointed in me.]

A break of five minutes lingered between this and the next message.

[Don't go into school rampaging and chewing the others out, don't bring that on yourself, my parents are on my side this time and the board is involved.]

Adrien still felt guilty, he still felt angry, but he trusted Marinette and her family; he was going to support them however he could, even if it meant giving his friends the cold shoulder. Which made him wonder if they even really were his friends, would they have trusted him more or less than Marinette if he tried to call Lila out?

[I can't go in there and be smiles and sunshine after what they did to you, Mari, but I'll avoid confrontation for you.]

[Thank you, Adrien.]

His drive to school was silent as Adrien spent some time looking into what he could that might help Marinette's case against the school and maybe a case directly against Lila, his bodyguard said nothing as they pulled up to the street as his classmates defended her from the various other students who knew and trusted Marinette. TVi's return fire had left a huge mark and his statement as well as Ladybug's had turned Alya's blog sideways in a night.

"Adrien, please make them stop!" Lila's loud cry made him freeze in place and turn his head to look at her, the rest of his class wore similar pleading expressions, but he wasn't going to stay quiet. He wouldn't scream or spit fire, not yet at least, but Adrien was done with playing stupid.

Channeling his Father's most potent dead stare, shoulders tense, the model made sure to look right at her. "Marinette is my friend, someone who is very important to me, I know she didn't do what she was accused of and I'll believe her over you every time. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've missed enough class." Adrien turned and stalked inside, nearly throwing Aurore when the reporter came up and looped her arms around one of his.

He did jerk in surprise but she had a surprisingly good amount of balance and strength to not stumble. "That was amazing, Adrien, thank you for standing up for Marinette like that. If they give you any trouble at all just let me know and I'll make sure to include it in the PSA on CatBug News. Someone is going to wind up akumatized and I'd rather Paris be as aware as they can." Aurore's tone was firm, proud too, which served to further his opinion of the former weather girl.

He offered her a smile, at least the best he could manage right now, before pausing at the classroom door. "Thanks, Aurore, I should be okay but I'll keep you updated. Ladybug and Chat Noir definitely picked the best person to be their go to for news." Aurore preened and thanked him with a grin before heading to her own class, Adrien took his seat and got out his books, not bothering to pretend to be the dutiful student as he brought out his phone to tell Marinette what he'd done and said to the class. Nino was the first to walk in, though Adrien could hear the others whispering outside the door.

He was glad, though, since it meant less time before their teacher appeared that he'd have to listen to them if they stayed out there. "Dude?" Adrien set his phone down but didn't bother turning his head or saying anything. "I know you have this whole 'see the good in people' thing but Lila has photo evidence that Mari burned her homework. Like, she took it herself when she realized what was happening, there's no arguing that." This made Adrien tense up, gripping his textbook tightly, two things crossed his mind in that moment as the rage burned through him for how far Lila was willing to go.

But he did level Nino with a look. "Photoshop exists, Nino, I'm a model and I get to watch them edit out any 'flaws' from a shoot. I still stand by what I said, I believe Marinette over Lila and I always will, if you can't deal with that I'll move seats but I'm not going to hear anything else about it." His friend took his seat and the rest of the class walked in without a word, though Kim and Alix did shoot him dirty looks, he didn't really care now.

"Alright, class, we've got a lot to cover."

Madam Bustier looked pale, shadows under her eyes, the vengeful little part of Adrien was pleased.

* * *

Without a reporter in sight, now that night had fallen, the hero landed gently on the balcony and made sure there were no cameras or pedestrians that saw him before he tapped on the skylight. Marinette looked up and opened the latch, though he did hesitate because he'd never seen the redness in her eyes that she had now, a rumble of thunder in the distance made him drop down so his knees hit the bed first. "Uh, hi Princess, I wanted to check on you; Ladybug pointed out-" Slender arms wrapped around his body and her wail muted whatever else he'd planned to say, he tensed up momentarily before relaxing as she cried into his suit, his hand rubbing her back.

He hadn't been prepared for his own breakdown, though, her grief only seemed to make the guilt swell within him until they were both a crying mess. Having her comfort him wasn't the plan but he did feel so much better once he was able to cry, even if it still sucked, and hearing her compliment him out of the suit was enough to make him feel better too. But something made him curious, based on the photos on her walls and the tone of her voice, it wasn't the same tone she used when talking about any of her other friends or even Luka. It was very similar to him when he used to talk about Ladybug.

Having the chance to maybe get a direct answer he prodded a little about her relationship with _Adrien_ , he did not expect to learn that his friend liked him. As in wanted to hold his hand, go on dates, kiss, and cuddle; he couldn't control the high-pitched sound that escaped him or the way his face erupted into a blotchy mess of red. Hearing her recount their disastrous meeting, hearing her so fondly tell him that she'd fallen for him when he sought out to fix her mistake despite how he didn't have to, was like a curtain being drawn back to her stutter and general panic around him.

When he confirmed, not that she knew it, he wouldn't ever reject her and find it too awkward to even want to be her friend -because who wouldn't want to be her friend- the feline now understood all those times Nino and Alya would ditch them when they went out. Hearing that Alya tried to brute force them together, despite knowing Marinette wasn't ready, only lowered his already low opinion of the girl he'd once thought to be cool.

Once he was safely in his room, after he managed to get Marinette into bed and asleep, he looked at Plagg as the Kwami snagged his cheese. "Plagg, Marinette likes me." The cat looked at him and made a gesture along the lines of 'I would hope so?' before shoving camembert into his mouth. "Not like- I mean she wants to date me; she wants to hold my hand in a non-platonic way." The Kwami swallowed the bite he'd taken and sighed.

"Not new news, kid, why do you think all your classmates kept trying to shove the two of you together? They were all pairing up and she was hardly subtle about it." Adrien's gut lurched at Plagg's statement, he had suspected but she never had said anything, even when he asked she made up excuses. Honestly it was confusing and she hadn't exactly denied liking Luka either, nor had she mentioned past crush on Chat Noir.

He just wanted answers. "Why didn't she say anything? Why did she try to hide it?" But he knew the answer and couldn't acknowledge it, she was terrified of rejection and losing him, he would've tried to let her down easily but she would have still been hurt. "Plagg, what do I do?" He had tried giving Ladybug up and going on a few dates with Kagami but it hadn't worked, he had to break it off with Kagami already.

But Ladybug didn't want him, she'd said it numerous times, Adrien knew exactly what he'd be putting Marinette through if he thought he was over Ladybug and tried dating when he wasn’t. "You have to make a choice. You can pretend you don't know, chase the Bug, and maybe there'll be a slim chance she chooses you but it's unlikely. Or you can acknowledge what she said, can you picture yourself being happy with pigtails?" Adrien didn't even need to hesitate on that one, of course he could, Marinette was incredible.

"Easily, she's so kind and compassionate, Marinette really genuinely loves with everything and-" His ramble was cut off as he realized what he'd said, what he was feeling, his eyes widened and the blush returned full force. "Plagg, I think I _like_ Marinette." He sat down on his bed and felt that creeping warmth spread down his neck, his ears felt hot as he thought of the sunny smiles and kind actions she was known for, even more so warmer than when he thought of Ladybug.

Plagg hummed and then disappeared, dropping into the trashcan, Adrien looked up at his Father when the door opened. "Adrien, are you alright?" The model nodded and then immediately shook his head, groaning as he buried his face in his hands.

How embarrassing. "I don't know, I just found out that Marinette likes me, but I can't- I like her too but I don't know if things would work between us and-" He couldn't exactly tell his Father that he liked Ladybug, it would be silly and no doubt the man would remark it was a passing fancy, nor did he think his Father would care about Adrien's potential romantic relationships aside from making sure they didn't tarnish the business.

A hand landed on Adrien's back and his Father hesitated before sitting down. "Miss Dupain-Cheng?" This made Adrien nod and turn his head to look at his Father's expression, it was oddly soft compared to his usually blank face. "Why do you think it wouldn't work?" Adrien blinked and then cleared his throat; he had not expected this.

"Honestly? She's liked me since our second day of school, after I gave her my umbrella, I never even noticed. How can I say I like her if I never _noticed_ how she felt for me? How do I know I'm not just reacting to her confession? What if I mess up so bad that she doesn’t want to be friends?" Though she hadn't meant to confess to him at all, she said it to Chat Noir, so how could he just swoop in and claim the Princess without even being remotely obvious?

Hearing his father hum in consideration, a sound he was used to before runways, felt strange here. "You gave her your mother's umbrella? You must have wanted her to think highly of you, not even Nathalie was allowed to handle it." Adrien's world spun at that revelation, his mother's umbrella from her movie Solitude was nestled in Marinette's room, he hadn't even made the connection and the rush of feelings mingled with guilt for his lapse in memory of his mother.

How could he admit that to his Father? "I want this to work." He did, Adrien wanted it to work with every fiber of his being, Ladybug had someone and Adrien found a girl who liked all of him even if she didn't know it yet. He found an incredible, kind, loving, girl with a heart of gold and a backbone of steel. Every second the idea lingered in his head was another second that he could truly see himself being able to get over Ladybug as long as Marinette was by his side.

He was pulled into a hug and Adrien relished in the gesture. "It will work, you just have to be honest with her, talk to her before you come home for lunch tomorrow." But that was just it, this wasn't waiting at school or stealing moments between classes, he had to go to her house to do that.

Adrien bit back his fears. "Father, she was framed for some crime by Lila and expelled without proper procedure being followed, I have to help her and I don't know how." He had a man who was used to dealing with a media circus, who had experience with teenage drama and people abusing their positions, Adrien had access to help and he wasn't going to fail Marinette again.

"Tell me everything."

He did, Adrien told his Father every scrap of the story from the Volpina incident and up to the most recent development, he threw his own apologies in for eavesdropping and stealing the book but made sure he mentioned Lila's constant unwanted touches and her akumatizations. "I'll have to get in touch with Mlle. Dupain-Cheng's parents, as I refuse to allow that girl to get no punishment for sexual harassment, but they can sue for unlawful photography. As it is illegal to take photographs without consent, especially of a minor." Hearing this made Adrien's heart swell, he could pass that information on, there was hope.

But a glance at the clock indicated it was late, he had to sleep now, but he'd see Marinette tomorrow. Adrien thanked his Father and earned a second hug, getting ready for bed and laying down before he got wound up again, he would make sure to talk to Marinette tomorrow.

* * *

If the cold shoulder treatment was supposed to hurt his feelings, his classmates hadn’t even glanced at him today, then it wasn’t working at all. Madam Bustier looked worse off today than she had the day before, the investigation was in full swing and _everything_ was being pulled into the open, Adrien could only imagine just how badly she and the school were being torn up for their lack of protocol. “Alright, class, I’ll see you after lunch.” As he traded his books out Adrien frowned when Lila leaned heavily against the locker beside his, eyes narrowed in anger and lips curled into a sneer, she’d certainly timed it well enough to be alone with him.

“You made a mistake, Adrien. You think getting her expelled is the _worst_ I can do to that self-righteous pushover? With parents in the _food_ business it’s far too easy to get the health department involved, you can fall back in line and be my boyfriend or that little shack of theirs will be _shut down._ ” Lila’s words were spoken softly and dripping with venom, he was glad that she was done faking the cute act with him, because she didn’t see what he did; from the mirror on his locker wall he could see Nathaniel and Juleka staring from their place behind him.

Adrien’s tall frame masked the pair of them, along with the door of his locker, from Lila knowing they were there. “You really think threatening me is going to get you what you want? Unfortunately for you Lila, especially with Ladybug and Chat Noir supporting Marinette and her family, it’s _over_. I hope you’re prepared; you built that tower of lies really high and it’s coming down fast, Lila.” He closed his locker and moved back, allowing Lila to see Juleka and Nathaniel wearing incredulous looks that morphed into disgust.

Panic filled her expression briefly before she stormed by them, no doubt going to destroy their reputations, but Adrien wasn’t too concerned. “Shit.” Hearing Nathaniel curse was rare but hearing _that_ from Juleka was a surprise, especially since she wasn’t mumbling any longer, the two whipped out their phones as Adrien walked by them. He had to see Marinette, he had to talk to her about the lawsuit, Adrien was already rushing over to the bakery with an apology to Leonard.

“Hello Adrien, Marinette is upstairs in her room.” He thanked Sabine and rushed up the steps to the apartment, alarm on his phone set as a precaution, taking the steps up to Marinette’s room as Sabine called out that he was here. He stared at the back ears that were standing up on a hood, blanket wrapped around her bottom half, the onesie was cute and Adrien felt his face warming up again. “Hey Marinette!” He almost panicked, had that been _too_ chipper? What if she realized he knew something and figured him out?

Her surprised shriek was kind of cute but he had to lunge forward to catch her before she could hit the floor, watching the rosiness grow in her cheeks as she stared at him, making sure to help her back to her feet and keep his hands on her shoulders for a fast grab if she fell again. But in his glance down he realized she was wearing a _Chat Noir_ onesie, the waist had a fabric belt tail and the feet were like paws with the gray ends like his boots. He couldn’t help but interrupt her ramble, seeing that she was getting anxious, by squeezing her shoulders and then pressing one finger to her lips.

Watching her lashes flutter in wide-eyed wonder, watching that look, he ducked his head a little to hopefully hide his own blush. “You’re so cute, Marinette.” Adrien had a brief moment where he could _swear_ there was an airhorn somewhere and shrieking of ‘ _what the hell was that Agreste_ ’ echoing, as if someone had deafened him and stolen his ability to react, he scrambled to recover something remotely resembling a cool composure.

He managed to blurt out his original message for her, as far as a means of getting back at Lila once and for all, but he hardly expected her to throw herself at him and moved to stabilize her as a reflex. But when she mentioned kissing him it was like his brain short-circuited, his heart was racing as he delivered some sort of line to make her aware that he wouldn’t be opposed to kissing her at all and had no idea what he even said, but whatever it was had her staring at him in wonder and hope and he couldn’t resist.

One her consent was given, because he was not going to push any boundaries, Adrien kissed her; her lips were warm and tasted like berries from whatever chapstick she’d used, their teeth clicked together and he hoped that was he was doing with his tongue was okay. One kiss split and broke into many others, his head was fuzzy and his heart was full and Adrien decided that there was officially nothing better than this. He sprang back from her when his alarm chimed and he felt like a right asshole for having to dash out after that, promising to call her because he wasn’t going to risk her thinking that he didn’t want to commit or something, Plagg snickered as he paused at the bakery.

Sabine was coming up to the apartment, Tom talking with the staff so he could eat lunch with his family, Adrien was glad that both of them were there. “Excuse me, um, I had a question for you both.” Their fond smiles made him hope to all above that he wasn’t going to get a hard rejection from the duo. “If my father allows it, I would like to date Marinette; I really like her and if I have your permission, I would like to take her on a date.” He felt his nerves spike at their momentary silence before Sabine wrapped him in a hug as Tom scooped them both up.

“Of course, Adrien, you’re a sweet boy and one of her very best friends. As long as you treat our daughter right and make sure she’s happy we won’t mind at all.” Their acceptance made him teary eyed as he grinned, thanking them to leave when Leonard texted him, he had to get home since he had a brief Mandarin review over lunch. Rushing inside, telling Nathalie that he needed to talk with his Father and that it was very important and related to Marinette, he ate quickly and began working on his review as he hoped that the sudden attention from his Father would continue.

Hearing the footsteps and then having his Father enter his room, Nathalie joining him too, Adrien forced down his excitement at how he felt with the sudden change. “Father, I kissed Marinette today. I have her parent’s permission to date her and I’d like yours as well, I just- it’s important to me that you’re okay with it as well.” Adrien met his Father’s gaze and found that soft look was back, it earned him another hug and a pat on the head.

“Could you please contact Miss Dupain-Cheng? I would just like to ask her something.”

He started the video call and debated ending it to text her first, acting too late though sine she answered, seeing her with her onesie was still adorable and he felt guilty that she nearly choked on her lunch. He was jealous though since he spied noodles and something like dim sung, his usual diet monitored his carbohydrate intake after all, but Adrien’s confusion bloomed to a full blush as Marinette complimented him in front of his Father. The arranged dinner date was exciting and Marinette’s reaction to her mother’s teasing was even cuter, Adrien wasn’t sure what all needed to be discussed but he was fine with it.

Or he would have been until his Father and Nathalie gave him a crash course on STI’s, contraception, menstrual cycles, and consent.

* * *

“Thank you for accepting my invitation, welcome to our home.”

Adrien would have said something but his breath was stolen by the vision of beauty in front of him, his throat felt dry and his face was hot, Marinette’s dress was a short cheongsam paired with round-toe wedges. The base fabric was a darker purple with red and blue peonies printed on it, but she’d added a whole layer of lace over that with its own floral pattern that created an illusion of water color fabric. The skirt came to her knees with a short slits on the both sides, the Mandarin collar had a lighter purple edging and a double sided round front with a single peony shaped pankou on each side, it was gorgeous and Adrien felt like the entire French dictionary had been wiped out of his head as well as half the Chinese dictionary. “Welcome, please come in, may I take your coats?” He rushed closer for something to do, his hands shaking as he accepted the jackets, taking great care with them as he hung them up in the hall closet.

His Father didn’t even _hesitate_ in asking questions. “Miss Dupain-Cheng, I must ask, did you make that yourself?” His eyes scanned the edging, the lace layer, and Adrien was prouder when his Princess nodded as she slowly turned for them with a proud tilt to her head.

“Yes, Monsieur Agreste, I actually made this dress as well as the clothing my parents are wearing and our coats. Maman and Papa are my go-to models and walking advertisements.” Adrien was impressed with the fit of Tom’s button-down since he was a broad-chested man with height, the fact that there were no signs of the fabric being stretched or hanging too loose meant the measurements were exact. Even his Father was nodding as he took in the attire, Adrien knew that everyone had gotten pretty dressed up.

Adrien didn’t stop himself any longer. “You’re incredible, Marinette, those are all very well-made and incredible designs; men’s wear isn’t as flashy but it all depends on the fit, which even some of Father’s staff would have difficulties fitting your Father right due to his shoulders and chest being so broad compared to his hips and legs.” It was why models were all preferred to be slender, so that clothing lines were easier to tailor and fit, the straighter the body and the better chance you had at modeling.

Sabine, who handed off a covered platter to the chef’s assistant, hummed thoughtfully. “Marinette has had _years_ of practice with her Papa’s measurements, most of our clothing is custom made by now and we don’t actually have to buy that much outside things like undergarments.” Adrien stared at Marinette in awe, he’d known she was amazing and tonight proved it but that she even made their casual clothing was more than enough to make him want to melt, he wanted to wear something she designed too.

“Impressive, I look forward to seeing your work in the future, should you have any questions or wish any assistance I will be more than willing to provide such.” Hearing his Father offer that was another shock, everyone had joked about Gabriel the Recluse but Adrien knew the public had a point, few people on his Father’s staff were allowed to even try and discuss help or requests from him. It was like he was looking at a whole _different_ person, the man he’d been prior to his wife going missing a year ago, all Adrien could do was hope that this was going to be permanent.

Soft chiming made them turn, the chef’s assistant bowed at the waist, the door to the dining room open. “The first course of dinner is ready to be served.” Adrien offered his arm to Marinette and she placed a hand into the crook of his elbow as she came to stand beside him, pulling her chair out and ignoring the looks as Tom and Sabine effectively made him sit beside Marinette with his Father at the head of the table on Adrien’s left. He didn’t mind that they allowed him to sit beside his girlfriend, why would he complain?

As the bowls were set down, a wild rice and mushroom soup, Adrien prayed he was mentally prepared for this conversation since he’d been blindsided once already. Their parents kept the topics away from school, mostly skirting it by asking about what Adrien wanted for his future, he’d confessed to not really liking the _modeling_ aspect of fashion but that he didn’t mind doing it because he was good at it and it helped his Father. “Now, I understand Adrien speaks Mandarin?” Sabine looked very much like she had a mischievous idea and Marinette made a soft sound, as if going to protest. “I’ve been teaching Marinette, after she had Adrien help her when my Uncle came to Paris, I’d be more than happy to take over his Mandarin lessons and have him work in the bakery.” Adrien blinked rapidly at that idea, he hadn’t thought to ask to change to a native speaker for Chinese, it wasn’t even a _bad_ idea.

More surprising to him was that his Father was _nodding_ at the suggestion. “In return I can begin having Miss Dupain-Cheng attend his photoshoots outside school hours, I can have a staff member assigned to teach her the management side of the industry, I don’t need to focus on the design or crafting aspects yet as I am impressed with what I have seen thus far.” Their parents were planning them supervised time together, in areas they could work on things they already were doing or wanted to do, and Adrien met Marinette’s eyes as she blushed.

“But we do have to set some rules.” Tom’s stern voice was soft still but it was clear he wanted their attention. “You both have other responsibilities and cannot let your relationship cause you to forget them. Gabriel, would you say eight thirty or nine in the evening as the cut-off for week-day phone curfew?” Adrien hadn’t thought about that one and his Father hummed in thought before looking at them.

“Eight thirty, I think, for a week day. We can discuss if there are extenuating circumstances, though I can’t think of many at the moment; but if those situations arise, they can be handled at the time. Weekends I think extending that time to nine thirty is fair, an extra hour is plenty.” Here was where Marinette’s mother nodded and looked right at them, both Adrien and Marinette nodding in agreement since it was very fair of an agreement.

Adrien was almost afraid to ask. “May I- every other week, may I take Marinette out? Even if it’s for a light brunch or a walk in the park, with Leonard following at a distance?” He would have preferred as often as he could, truthfully, but they were already proving to be willing to extend a bridge and he wanted to meet them in the middle. He couldn’t ask for no bodyguard, that would _never_ happen, but he could ask for distance.

Tom and Sabine shared a look and then looked at his Father, who shared their look and made _some_ gesture with his brows that Adrien didn’t catch, before they nodded in some kind of an agreement. “I think once a week is fair for an unsupervised date, though you _will_ be required to send us a text message when you reach your date location and check in every hour that you are both safe, we will create a group message specifically for check-ins. As well as a code for if you _are_ in trouble but are unable to relay such safely.” Adrien’s chest swelled and Marinette squeezed his hand, their second course arriving as the bowls were cleared away from the table, this was already more than he expected from his Father. He was getting _unsupervised_ dates, once a week, the check-in was no problem at all.

Nathalie whispered something to his Father, Adrien had never quite seen the shade of red on the man’s face before, but whatever it was made him gesture to Tom and Sabine; neither of them reacted _quite_ the same, Tom did sigh reluctantly, it was clear Marinette figured it out though when she squeaked and looked to be seven shades of red. “Alright, so, we’re going to address a very… private subject. If you two decide you want to try being intimate,” Adrien’s ears _burned_ at that and Marinette’s crimson face started matching the purple on her dress. “please tell us first before you try sneaking around. We will make sure you have condoms, birth control, and privacy if you don’t lie to us about it.” This made both teens nod even though Adrien was sure it wasn’t happening any time soon, not that he wasn’t _curious_ about it but he could hardly handle the idea of kissing Marinette at the moment without turning to mush.

“That’s not going to be for a while, we just started dating, but thank you for being open with us about it. I’m not- I wouldn’t ask for anything like that until we were more comfortable with each other, I’m just happy to be able to take her out on dates and show Marinette off.” Adrien wasn’t going to mess this one up, not a relationship with Marinette Dupain-Cheng, if she wasn’t ready then it wasn’t happening and he knew she felt the same way.

Those blue eyes of hers burned with a will of steel. “I’m not planning on doing anything like that right now, though I won’t lie and say I’m not excited at the idea, but we’re still leaning the simple things about one another and throwing that into our relationship now isn’t going to make it a better relationship. Besides, with Adrien being a model and used to people tugging at his clothes and limbs, I’m going to be a little wary of his consent because he didn’t realize he had a right to tell Lila or Chloé to stop grabbing at him until I said something about it.” Adrien had forgotten about that, he hadn’t realized that he could tell them to stop hugging his arm or grabbing at him without it being seen as impolite, it was after a few talks with Marinette about consent and his rights to his body that he started speaking up about it.

Which made sense then that she’d be more cautious to his consent, she would need to figure out when he was really okay with something or just agreeing because he felt like it was normal. Their second course were figs with bacon and a chile sauce, one of Adrien’s favorite things the chef had made for him, their parents accepted what they said and Adrien even earned an _apology_ from his Father in regards to being so lax on explaining consent and his own right to his body to him. They returned to topics like school work, agreeing to one study session at the mansion per week as long as their grades stayed where they were at or improved, while Adrien and Marinette avoided the discussion as much as they could.

When the chef brought out the main course, a seared Chilean sea bass, Adrien realized his Father had gone right for the best options on the chef’s specialty menu and seemed to be looking for approval; he practically fluffed up when Tom and Sabine remarked at how delicious the food was. It was as if his Father was trying to impress _them_ , even sparing looks to Marinette for her opinion on their choice of sides, having opted for roasted green beans and hasselback style mini potatoes with a garlic herb butter rather than their usual honey-glazed brussel sprouts. Adrien met Marinette’s eyes and saw that she also looked as amused at the situation, her parents were delighted and charmed by the normally stern man, Adrien had to wonder how much of this was for show and how much was genuine. Because he’d _never_ seen his Father like this even when his Mother was around, thought he suspected it was just something about the trio of guests because they brought _home_ with them wherever they went.

After clearing the main course away, the dessert was brought to the table, an artfully made dark chocolate and raspberry tart that had the bakery logo done in the center with powdered dried raspberry and the fruits decorating the top. “Marinette was the one to do the decorating, I just made it.” Tom’s grin held a smug pride as Marinette blushed and confirmed his statement with a shy smile, it tasted as amazing as it looked and Adrien was quite frankly in heaven, the rich velvety chocolate contrasted with the tart raspberries and the crust had all the sweetness needed to counter both strong tastes without overwhelming it.

Dessert’s arrival brought on _much_ lighter conversation, branching into Tom and Marinette’s shared bonding over video games and convincing Gabriel to at least watch them play a few rounds of Ultimate Mecha Strike, Sabine didn’t play but she was an excellent cheer leader and Adrien learned she was an instigator between her husband and daughter’s hilarious banter. He watched Marinette as her hands danced on the controller, that she _held_ differently than her Father did, even as Tom alternated between playing the pity card and smart mouthing her.

“Someone _kneads_ to practice.” The emphasis on the word was confusing until Tom’s look was amused annoyance.

His eyes danced. “ _Whipping_ out the baking puns? You should expand your horizons, cupcake.” Adrien felt a touch of shock at the fact that Marinette punned, that Tom had punned back, and that it seemed to alight a competitive something in his girlfriend.

Sabine chuckled behind her hand as Marinette jumped on a reply. “I would but they’d be _whey_ too complicated and go over your head.” Adrien’s heart raced and he was sure that she was _sparkling_ or something, he thought anime had exaggerated the glitter and hearts but there was no other explanation for the sudden glow.

Tom’s whoop of delight as he got off a nasty combo attack on Marinette’s bot was silenced when she locked him into her grab technique and KO’d him with her Marinette Super Combo before he could land the last few hits he needed to win. “You _cheddar brie-lieve_ I plan to get you back for that.” Adrien was going to bounce out of his seat in excitement at the new puns he was hearing, he couldn’t _wait_ to find a way to slip them into a chat with Ladybug to see her exasperated face.

“That was a _silky_ delivery, but cheese puns are only _sew-sew_.” Marinette’s head whipped to look at them, as did Tom and Sabine, even Adrien couldn’t hide his shocked delight as he stared at his Father after Gabriel’s two-in-one pun was delivered. A smirk was present on his Father’s face and Adrien found himself wondering just what sort of magic Marinette and her family had, _keeping_ Marinette in his life was a bigger priority than anything now.

* * *

Marinette watched the video with unmasked glee, Tikki was perched on her shoulder as they replayed the arrest and Lila’s reaction to it, the sweet revenge was enough to make her feel a little better. Representatives from the School Board had promised to be here just after lunch hour to discuss the outcome of their investigation, explain the punishments for all involved parties, and determine if Marinette would benefit more from going back to school or if keeping her enrolled online would be a preferable choice.

Even with Adrien telling her that the other students were whispering about apologies, Alix and Kim talking about possibly trying to come see her, Marinette didn’t _want_ to forgive them. There shouldn’t have even _been_ an issue because they should have trusted her, she hadn’t even bullied Chloé back for all the hell the mayor’s daughter had put her through, they had taken Lila’s word over Marinette’s and allowed themselves to be misled. Doctor Mazur, who she decided to continue therapy sessions with if only to deal with her bad habits, had been firm in reminding her that she didn’t _have_ to forgive anyone or become friends with them again.

His calm tone and soft voice had been what she needed in another panic fit about how awkward she would feel if she did choose to go back, having them all staring at her or begging her to forgive them, terrified she would fall back into her routine of doing _everything_ without taking care of herself again. Doctor Mazur had calmly reminded her that, aside from the School Board most likely overhauling the staff and school administration, it would be more likely they would most likely put her into a different school completely to guarantee her mental health wasn’t compromised.

Nathaniel, Juleka, Rose, and Ivan had all messaged her before her date with Adrien; evidently Lila had tried to force Adrien’s hand and revealed her true colors because she didn’t know Nathaniel and Juleka were in the room, Myléne apparently was having a hard time with accepting the truth but she trusted Ivan and the others more. But she hadn’t yet apologized to Marinette, as she still thought Lila was kind and sweet at the time, but today there were messages from everyone. Doctor Mazur had suggested to her parents that they change Marinette’s number too, an extreme move they had decided against at the time, she was starting to see why he mentioned it.

Hearing a knock made her look over to where Kagami stepped up into the room, eyes practically dancing with joy as she hustled over, sliding into the seat and looking eagerly at the tablet. Lila had outed Kagami as being interested in Aurore, something she had learned when she pilfered Adrien’s phone during one of their joint photoshoots apparently, the Tsurugi Matriarch hadn’t taken it the best in the beginning and Kagami had needed someone to talk to. Their friendship only continued to grow when Marinette became that shoulder, since the fencer _refused_ to talk about it to Adrien at all, after a week of fire the older woman had _finally_ sat down and listened to her daughter.

Kagami had been just as eager for Lila’s takedown as Marinette. “Adrien _is_ coming over for lunch today, correct? Are you sure I am allowed to be present?” The nerves in her voice were clear and Marinette hugged the fencer with a nod, just because she was dating Adrien didn’t mean she was going to ignore her friends. Saying such made Kagami blush and smile, it was nice to see the frosty attitude was just a suit of armor, Marinette played the video and Kagami was snickering by the end of it.

Adrien’s arrival was greeted warmly and the three students ate noodles as they discussed plans for Marinette’s newest contest entry that required a male and female design with a model for each, Gabriel had been hesitant but permitted Adrien to act as Marinette’s model once Tomoe gave Kagami permission to be the female model. Marinette made sure to take their measurements before Adrien began showing Kagami his runway walk and making suggestions for her own, all while Marinette sketched away at a few designs.

The rules were that the clothes had to be casual, the contest winners would be featured in a summer travel book so the clothes were for summer weather, and accessories had to come from the list available online. Sun hats, shell jewelry, and an island feeling to the pieces did help with keeping Marinette from going off on her own trail of ideas. “Oh, I like that dress.” Kagami had leaned over her shoulder, to see what she was doing, Marinette studied the sketch again as she considered it. The wrap dress was kimono inspired, with elbow length wide sleeves with a band of fabric about 7cm thick that was sewn into the back and would cinch the waist of the dress together before hooking to itself in the back when the dress was closed.

Keeping the sleeves to be a light material, possibly a rope weave if she could find one soft enough and fine enough, would be ideal to match the straw hat with plum blossoms decorating the base of the crown. “I think I could make this work if I get the right fabrics.” Marinette hummed as she thought about going to the fabric store the following afternoon at lunch to explore a little, maybe she would find something that just spoke to her. A kiss landed on the top of her head and she looked up at Adrien as he leaned over her other shoulder.

“You can do it, Marinette, I think that’s an amazing design.” His praise made her smile, wrap dresses inspired by kimono closures weren’t exactly new or unique but she hadn’t seen any incorporate an obi into the look before either, if she could get this right without it looking too _bath robe_ then she would be proud. “I have to say, I don’t think Father has ever let me wear a tank-top on camera before.” Which struck her that he was right, she’d never seen him without some sort of overshirt, Marinette wondered just how much she’d swoon herself seeing his shoulders.

Sometimes it was still hard to believe that Adrien liked her back.

Kagami shoved him playfully. “Probably because you’re so pale that you’d reflect too much light from the camera flash.” It was so unexpected a comment that both Adrien and Marinette stared, to the point that Kagami shifted in a little discomfort as her face fell, but Marinette burst into laughter and Adrien pouted dramatically at the barb.

“At least I know when to _let it go_ , ice queen.”

The mock rage on Kagami’s face turned into a playful grin as she delivered a pillow strike that made the model yelp, his laughter loud as he tried to flee, Marinette giggled into her hand and watched them with a smile on her face. Only to be drawn into the fight when a stray pillow hit her in the back of the head. Once the fight was ended, with Marinette the victor, they cleaned up and had lunch before Marinette found her friend and boyfriend leaving with the arrival of Monsieur Richmond from the school board.

His stern face worried her, truthfully, but she was ready for the verdict. “Thank you for your patience in the matter during our investigations, Sir and Ladies, I am here to give you a brief summary of the decisions made as a result of our findings. Principal Damocles was removed from his position, as well as Caline Bustier, the pair of them replaced with Board certified staff to have proper training on handling threats and protocol for reported illnesses as well as classroom conduct.” Which they had expected at the very least, truth be told, but it was nice to hear confirmation that the issue was handled.

Marinette decided to ask the real question. “Will I… am I going back to school?” Part of her wanted to go if only for the normalcy, to be able to talk with Adrien between classes again, to see the friends she had left there. But the other part of her wasn’t ready to face the rest of her classmates yet, not wanting to be bombarded with more apology attempts.

Monsieur Richmond handed her a piece of paper. “You are, Miss Dupain-Cheng, but you will be reassigned to the class of Madam Priscille Mendeleiev rather than return to the class now under the care of Baxter Kennedy. Nor will you be asked to return to a role as classroom representative, you did a good job but we feel you need a little bit of a break.” Marinette sighed in relief because it was a compromise she was willing to accept, especially since she knew students in Miss Mendeleiev’s class and didn’t have to be worried about not having friends.

Hearing her Papa thank the man, even as she burrowed into her Maman’s hug, Marinette decided to surprise Adrien the next morning instead of telling him what was happening. With her bookbag on her shoulder, hair pulled up into twin buns rather than pigtails, Marinette checked her outfit one last time. Gray denim overalls ending in a skirt, pink half-sleeve blouse underneath, with pink and white high-top sneakers and thigh-high white socks; she felt cute and casual, definitely targeting her boyfriend’s fondness for anime.

Once she turned in her papers with the new Principal, Madam Roche welcoming her back with a warm smile and promising to do better for all students, the grin on her face as she spotted Adrien in the courtyard below only grew wider when Juleka pointed at her after tugging on his sleeve. He’d changed too, wearing a black overshirt today with a green and gray shirt under it, his dark jeans and black converse were far different from his tendency to wear lighter colors. “Mari?” It took all her control to head down the steps at a normal pace, sliding into his arms as he rushed over, her face warming as he peppered her cheeks with light smooches.

“I’m going to be in Madam Mendeleiev’s class, Adrien, but I’m back. I’ll see you in the halls, okay?”

“Alright, should I tell the others to let you approach them first?”

“Please? I’ll talk to them when I’m ready to, until then I just want to be able to move on.”

“Alright, Mari, I’ll let them know. Have a good day in class.”

He delivered one final kiss, right on the lips, that left her head fuzzy and heart racing; Tikki giggled from inside her pocket and Marinette hurried to her new classroom before sliding into the empty seat beside Aurore. Things were going to be fine, she’d recover from everything and come back better than before.

**Author's Note:**

> This was fun to write, I'm not usually that good with male characters but Adrien presented a challenge to me because of how he acts. Find me on tumblr too @chaoticGeminate :)


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